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By Sara Willcutt

Your resume is the most important part of your audition package. A neat and organized resume will help you stand out. Many dancers clutter their resumes with too much information. Your resume needs to be focused and tailored to the specific job you are applying or auditioning for. Dance companies get hundreds of resumes and are overwhelmed with prospective dancers. Give yourself the best chance you can by having a professional looking resume.

What to Include:

Name, address and phone number

Date of birth, weight and height

This is specific to audition resumes. If applying for a teaching or other job, this is unnecessary.

Round height to the nearest full inch.

Citizenship

List dance companies you have worked with

List any featured roles

Include the names of ballets or shows and the choreographers.

If you have been in many shows, only include featured roles.

If you have little experience, include all you have.

Dance education

This includes all dance training you have had. List education, start with the most recent and work backwards in time.

The more professional experience you have the less important the section on education becomes. If you are young and have little performance experience make sure to include all your training. If you received a scholarship, be sure to include that as well.

Include small workshops or brief training in different styles only if it applies to the position or company you are applying for.

Honors and awards

In this section, include all honors you have received, high placements at competitions, special individual awards, etc.

If you have lots to list, choose according to the relevance of the job or company you are applying for.

Depending on Target Position, Include:

Acting experience

Be sure to include this information if you are auditioning for a part in a musical.

Modeling experience

Some groups such as professional dance teams will want your modeling experience listed.

Choreographic work

Some groups such as modern dance companies that use improvisation like this sort of experience.

Ballet companies may not be interested in this information.

Musical training

Include this information only if you have extensive training and you have space to fill on your page.

References

It is best to include references on a separate page or in your cover letter.

Only include them on your resume if the reference has a direct connection to the director you hope to work with.

Do Not Include:

The word resume: that is a given.

Do not include anything negative.

This is your place to highlight all the good things about yourself and your dancing. Don’t mention your reason for leaving previous companies if it is negative. This information might be asked of you in an application but is not something you should include on your resume. If you are asked this, you can simply say you wanted to go in a different direction or try something new.

Hair and eye color

Salary requirements

A resume is not the place to start salary negotiation. This can limit you chances of getting a job. Once a director has offered you a contract, you can start talking about salary. You will want to talk to the general manager about this.

Best of the Best: What Can You Do for the Company?

You have done your research on the company that you want to work with. Now, you need to tailor your resume to show how you fit the needs of this company. You want to find common connections with the target director and your training or performance experience. Show the relevant information that relates to a specific job and how you would be an asset if hired.

State what you can do for the company. You can include in your resume the position that you are looking for. If you would be willing to take an apprentice or swing position, state that as well.

If you have seen the artistic directors choreographic works before you can mention that in your cover letter.

Get Started

Identify the companies or positions you want.

Do your research on these to qualify if they would be a good fit and know what they are looking for.

Create a list of your experience to draw from while writing your resume. It can be helpful to write down everything because you will want to highlight different experiences according to the company or position you are applying for.

Where applicable: look at the repertoire of the companies you are applying with and note any works that you have performed.

If your goal is to be a professional performer, you will need to go on lots of auditions, get your resume turned in to lots of companies and get your name out there. By attending classes, you will grow as a dancer as well as network. Many choreographers teach as well. If you want to work with a specific choreographer, try to take a class with them. Many dance companies have schools as well, take classes there!

If money is an issue, look into work study. Some studios offer scholarships or work study opportunities. If you are working with a company to take classes, you not only get classes and networking, but you will also learn about the behind the scenes work.

Work with renowned choreographers or instructors.

Identify similarities with schools and choreographers the company or director has worked with. Use this information to establish a connection which will make you more memorable.

Choose Your Format

There are many ways to organize your resume. The most important thing is to tailor each particular resume to the job you are applying for. Think about the position you want: choreographer, teacher, performer, etc. You resume should start with the most relevant information. If applying for a teaching position, highlight your teaching and leadership experience as well as your dance education. Also note that you need only include information about weight, height and age if you are applying for some type of performance job.

You can also think about details such as the type of font, the size of the text and the color of the paper.

There are two main was to organize your resume:
– The chronological method
– The functional method

Choose the method that best reflects your background and the interest of a potential employer. A functional resume would be good from a dancer with little performance experience that highlights skills rather than work history.

The Chronological Method

This method lists your work history in order. It is widely used, easy to organize and easy to read. This will show a strong work history in an organized way. Usually the order of the list starts with your most recent work at the top and then works down the page with previous work.

Use this method to highlight dates you have worked and choreographers and companies you have worked with.

The Functional Method

If you have little work background, are young, started dancing late or don’t have a strong background of performance, the functional method will work best. This way you can highlight your skills and not your lack of experience.

Where you have danced is more important than the dates. For this reason, you can put the dates on the end of a line on the right side of the page or omit them entirely, by using the functional method.

The main difference between the functional method and the chronological one is that with the functional resume the work history section is not included. This can work well for young dancers who have just graduated. However, this method can be used by anyone. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

This method will give you complete control over how you present yourself. You can highlight relevant experience or skills at the top.

The disadvantage of using this method is that it can create suspicion about lack of information.

When using the functional method, it is effective to write in the third person.

The Best of Both Worlds

You can combine the two methods to create your desired result. You can highlight when and where you have worked without strict guidelines or the need to simply list your work history in order. This can be a great way to organize your resume.

It will be helpful for your future resume writing and updating to keep a running chronological listing of your training and experiences. This is something you can draw from when you need to update a resume or write one that is very different from others you have done.

By Debra Gilbert

Belly dance, an exotic, sensual art of body movement has made its mark all over the world. From the growing trends in America today, this art has blossomed in the Middle East and surrounding areas reaching far across the waters and into our own backyards.

This kind of dance has been coined as a tool of seduction and often mistaken for means of prostitution. As many would like to suggest otherwise, tucked in the mountains of Algeria, this dance was precisely that: a way for women to make money by dancing and then selling their bodies for a living, a tradition long past the ages.

The Ouled Nail (pronounced “ooh-led nile”), a dance term in the realm of folklore, is a tribe living in the mountains in Algeria. From an early age, the women were taught about dance movements and sexuality. They traveled from village to village, primarily in the Sahara, and some of these destinations still quite notorious to this day.

After caravanning throughout the Sahara, they closed out the season by returning to their village until the next season arose. When the women have raised enough dowry funds from their travels, they retired back to the village to marry a suitable husband. The husband did not take shame in her former profession, though the married woman would never dance publicly again.

The styles of dance of these women were heavily symbolic, draped in earthiness and sexuality, containing many snake arms and undulations. The women danced often in pairs, but only on special occasions.

When all lined up, the women would stand with their shoes placed in front of them and when one dancer tires, another would take her place in order to keep a pair always together in the dance space. As the performance progressed, the women would disappear behind a screen and emerge moments later in only their jewelry and headdresses, which obviously left little to the imagination.

The dance when clothed was more refined, though conversely, movements grew more suggestive when they danced nude. Uncommonly, the dancers were unveiled, against social convention, providing further scandal.

The garb of the Ouled Nail dancer has heavily influenced American Tribal costuming to this day. Costumes were elaborate with heavy make up, especially heavy black kohl around their eyes and big, flashy jewelry.

They wore ruffled dresses or loose garments called “meliah,” belted at the waist using fibula pins at the collarbone on each side of the dress. For added protection from aggressive men, they also wore bracelets with sharp spikes and studs.

The money earned, mostly in the form of gold or silver coins, were woven into their costumes, displaying their success and importance. Dancers tattooed their faces and oiled their hair, which they wore in large braids looped into earrings. Headdresses decorated with ostrich tips and feathers, were also very common.

Although this art form has grown more conservative throughout the years, this dance remains suggestive and erotic. However, as many believe, the dance allows women to connect to the Earth and the Goddesses– and can also provide a greater understanding of the self.

Though the Ouled Nail Tribe dancers have unveiled what many have already speculated, this dance has evolved into an art form that continues to be refined through the ages.

Belmiloud Hichem
03, Rue pascal DZ-22000 Sidi Bel Abbes Algeria
Tel. +213.48.55.86.53, FAX +213.48.55.86.53
work consists on the search traditional for movement of the dances is choreography each area is the environment of the tribes primarily at the time of the celebrations of the festivals. example dance

By Jill Swenby

With only a few decades of life, lyrical dance is a relatively young form of dance. Quite literally, it is a form of dance that depends on a piece of music to create movements that express a certain emotion or idea. Because of it’s malleability, lyrical is a dance form that is difficult to define. At times loving, at times mournful or even exuberant, lyrical can be interpreted differently by both choreographers and dancers.

Having performed lyrical dance for the past 20 years, Scott Drikakis, a teacher for Legacy Dance Studio in Oakdale,Minnesota, calls lyrical a “hybrid-cross mix of ballet and jazz.” He sees lyrical as having “the best of both worlds.” In dance terms, “the best of both worlds” means lyrical not only requires a lot of stamina and strength like ballet, but also requires dancers to use their bodies to display emotion.

Teaching students of all ages, Scott stresses that it is important to choose music that correlates to the students performing the dance. Younger children often perform lyrical dances to songs focused on love and caring about their family, since those are the main life experiences they’ve been exposed to. Conversely, older children perform to songs about relationships and trials and tribulations. “When you talk about words and lyrics,” says Scott, “they can relate to it.”

As far as form goes, lyrical dance requires much of the technique and strength needed for ballet. Pirouettes are turned out, grand jetes are leaped gracefully, passé is held taut at the knee.

Unlike ballet, lyrical dance embodies a more fluid movement style. While ballet is rigid to the beat of the music, lyrical movement often does not correlate exactly with the music. Some poses may be held longer than the beat, and others are cut short. This contradiction between rigidity and fluidity make lyrical dance a great insight into how good a dancer really is.

“It is the most diverse form of dance,” according to Scott. He has observed in recent years, that lyrical has become prevalent at dance competitions. In fact, because of its dynamic mix of technique and artistry, Scott has noticed that lyrical performances win competitions time and time again. The dancers that really stand apart are lyrical dancers who are clearly talented technically and exuding a lot of feeling with their performance.

When choreographing, he does not always interpret the song literally from the words. More often than not, he takes the idea in the song and choreographs to it, always keeping in mind the students he’s choreographing for. Having danced lyrical for so long, Scott has trouble remembering each specific piece he’s choreographed or danced. In lyrical dance, according to Scott, you build on your own life experiences. Looking back on lyrical choreography he’s done, he notes, “I can see what was going on in my life at that time.”

By Johanna Orca

The history of hip-hop is as layered and complex as the music that characterizes it. A true movement for the people by the people, hip-hop culture was created by the inventive MCs and DJs who still propel it today. Along with the pulsing masses and now famous dancers who made this style of expression their bread and butter, hip-hop’s evolution has been fueled by the mutual ambition between these two groups. Digging up the roots of this family tree is a messy task, filled with questionable credits and debatable dates. However, despite the historical uncertainties of this unique art form hip-hop has secured a place in the future of dance because of its ability to grow with and reflect the lives of those who perform it.

Clive Campbell, aka Kool DJ Herc and the father of hip-hop, came to New York from Jamaica in 1967. Toting the seeds of reggae from his homeland, he is credited with being the first DJ to use two turntables and identical copies of the same record to create his jams. But it was his extension of the breaks in these songs – the musical section where the percussive beats were most aggressive – that allowed him to create and name a culture of break boys and break girls who laid it down when the breaks came up. Briefly termed b-boys and b-girls, these dancers founded breakdancing, which is now a cornerstone of hip-hop dance.

True revolutionaries in their own right, the b-boys and b-girls of the east coast helped lay the groundwork for hip-hop as a formidable dance force. Top rockin’ was one of their designs, marked by moves performed upright. Necessity became the mother of invention and with more competitive dance wars floor rocking was created. Earth-bound freezes and spins found their footing in this form of expression. Even the physical transition between top rockin’ and floor rocking – the drop – became an important repertoire embellishment, with the smoothest swipes and dips garnering the most props. Flashier moves developed including the windmill and flare which fall under the umbrella term, power moves. Perfecting these moves became the focus of the most skilled breakdancers.

New York gave birth to another hip-hop dance form, one arguably created by b-boys, Rubber Band and Apache. Brooklyn uprocking, simply known as uprocking, is considered to be the inspiration for top rockin’. It is an overtly competitive style of dance where individuals or lines of dancers, also known as Apache Lines, display their arsenal of superior moves in a battle for badness in the best way. Jerking, an abrupt yet rhythmic motion, became the trademark of this dance form which is also characterized by quick moves and humorous retaliations. Many dancing teams, such as the Rock Steady Crew and Dynamic Rockers, reached notoriety in this form.

On the other side of the country new dance moves were developing: Popping, a west coast invention, was arguably sponsored by Boogaloo Sam and the Electronic Boogaloo Lockers. Popping is done by contracting the muscles in time with the music and is most always performed while standing up to make use of strong angles. Some argue that this dance phenomenon was not created by Boogaloo Sam but descended from preexisting dances. Others claim it is a product of dance revolutions happening across the country at this time while still others consider it to be the first true hip-hop dance, one leading to the invention of other moves like the boogaloo, strut, tick and wave.

A popular semantic and physical companion to popping is locking or Campbellocking, another California concoction. Ushered in by Don Campbell, his signature move is characterized by briefly freezing the joints in tight conjunction with the beats, accented by moving the limbs liberally. Campbell formed a group called “The Lockers,” spreading funky moves including scooby doos and points across the US. While developed as separate funk-driven moves, both popping and locking eventually found sanctuary in the arms of hip-hop. They cannot, however, be credited as the only west coast hip-hop inventions. Different regions of California were known for their indigenous interpretations of hip-hop dance.

The above forms and moves, while diverse, can all be categorized as street dances. Street dances are defined as those moves created outside of the dance studio, moves prone to the spontaneity and improvisation of the individuals and crews that have made hip-hop the inspired force that it is today. Studio-taught hip-hop has been criticized from this end, sometimes considered too stifling an environment to cultivate the individual character that has been so key to its progress and development. On the other end, there has been concern that the early forms of hip-hop dance have been so diluted through personal expression that they are no longer being taught or performed correctly. To combat this, purists suggest the teaching of hip-hop moves in their earliest, most untainted forms.

This controversy is evidence of the current creativity swelling around hip-hop dance. Platforms like krumping and clowning provide stages for new school hip-hop. Expressing darker emotions like angst and aggression, krumping, not to be confused with krunking, is a confrontational form of expression utilizing dramatic and exaggerated moves. Dances falling into this category may appear violent, but in reality are a positive release of a negative force. Clowning is a closely related dance form with marked differences; while current versions may be following the more aggressive trend of krumping, clowning is essentially characterized by dissing, joking and jeers.

The blurry surface of hip-hop dance is a difficult one to dip below, from the numerous conflicting time lines, the onset of this movement floats between the late ‘60s to early ‘70s. With dancers across the country being moved by the beats of Kool DJ Herc and his colleagues, it is hard to confine credit to more than a handful of inspired dancers. With the assistance of expressive minds searching for a way to further their skills through physical feats, hip-hop will continue to grow as more steps are taken to look into its past and forward as the continual creation of moves propel its evolution.

By Dianne M. Buxton

A key area of dancing for females is pointe work, and a key area for males is jumping. In early training, regardless of age, there are 7 highly effective habits that will contribute to excellence in both these areas. This analysis can apply to other areas of dance in the same way also, I’m choosing this one for the sake of discussion.

***First, education as to specific physical attributes and shortcomings. Every dancer would like to have long and stretchy Achilles tendons, and flexible ankles. These 2 advantages provide the biggest movement between the bottom of a demi-plie and the take-off point of a releve or jump. One of the dancers in my class at the National Ballet School of Canada had a very shallow demi-plie. Yet, she had very flexible ankles and a high arch, and this gave her the thrust to jump very high.

***Second, technical education . Regardless of physical advantages, understanding of the ideal movements and resulting positions can be obtained from an educated teacher, books, and the many DVD’s available to all through internet stores. There is no restriction on our access to information.

***Third, a teacher who not only has decent credentials, but who has the required habit of demanding correctness in class. This is a variable, and inexperienced teachers do not realize how often they are going to repeat the same old correction over the years of training, to the same students…. in a million different imaginative ways, and with appreciation for your own uniqueness too.

***Fourth, knowing that there is cross-training that will help you compensate for your physical shortcomings. If you are less flexible than you would like to be, there is Pilates, massage, or Yoga. If you are flexible but weak in some areas, Pilates, and weight training will help.

***Fifth, knowing where more details count – if your habit is curiosity, that’s a huge asset. If it’s not, adopt it. Studying anatomy and kinesiology is a plus. (I know you already have homework or a job, or family obligations, but hey, if you are serious about dance, all this is just more fun, right?)

***Sixth, coordinating your knowledge of your physiology, and how you might be compensating detrimentally to get the deepest demi-plie and best take-off that you can, and instead compensate more with cross-training and less with bad habits. It’s only a life-long process, don’t get discouraged.

***Seven, a truly habitual appreciation of your own uniqueness, talents, intelligence, and determination. There will always be an invitation to doubt yourself, envy others’ real or imagined superiority, and waste time thinking negative thoughts.

Proper rest and good nutrition have a lot to do with #7. Body and brain fatigue, and nutritional deficiencies are directly related to mood. Please be curious and get the information you need.

These 7 highly effective habits are just the tip of the icebergs, but they are a great guide to go with until you develop your own uniqueness in training priorities.

About the Author: Dianne M. Buxton is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada. She continued dance training at The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and Toronto Dance Theatre. She taught at, and choreographed for The National Ballet School, York University, and George Brown College, in Canada, and taught at Harvard University in the U.S.http://www.theballetstore.com recommends The Ballet Bible – a concise package of textual and visual education for a dance student.